One more question, what do you think about these Jokerit -98 born forwards who were selected to the Selects teams last season, Jarkko Aalto, Mikael Hakkarainen and Otto Somppi?

Aalto is maybe 170cm tall, pretty good skill level and seemed to have a fairly quick release on his wrister. One of the more advanced 98-born forwards in C2 this season and had a top-6 role in Jokerit 97’ team. Will be interesting to see what he can do in C1 next season. Don’t remember much about Hakkarainen, didn’t seem as physically developed as many of the other guys mentioned earlier. I haven’t seen Somppi.

I have a question for you guys. I have seen several places that have BluesU20 forward Kalle Kossila commited to St.Cloud State for next season but I have also heard rumblings that the reports are false. Does anyone know anything definitive?

I have a question for you guys. I have seen several places that have BluesU20 forward Kalle Kossila commited to St.Cloud State for next season but I have also heard rumblings that the reports are false. Does anyone know anything definitive?

Eliteprospects.com has it as a confirmed transfer stating the source as "private". Those tend to be true so I'd say it's correct.

He had a superb year, and the highest ppg average among players who played the entire season in the A-juniors.

Alex Lintuniemi (late -95, 2014 draft, not a righty as EP says) played his first game with Jokerit yesterday after a couple of regular d-men had small injuries. He was actually at Jokerit A-juniors camp in Kitee, got the call and just arrived so didn't have much time to prepare for the game.

For his age he's a big kid, probably about 190cm/85kg (picture from this summer, red shorts). He played a very simple game and seemed a bit nervous at the beginning but quickly got into it and didn't look out of place. His defensive play was quite good and from seeing him in juniors I know he has some offense as well. Needs to work on his skating and gain experience since he's only played 3 jr.A games so far. He could make noise in his draft year with Jokerit if he continues to develop and possibly gets to play a couple of Mestis games this year.

EDIT. OK, so the kid wasn't Lintuniemi even though everyone including official Jokerit twitter page said so... Must have been Santeri Saari(2013 draft eligible) then.

Has anyone seen Jesse Puljujärvi play recently? So far he's got 3+4=7 points in 6 games in jr. B qualifiers against players up to 3 years older than him. Sounds pretty impressive.

And it's not like he scored all his points against weak teams that wont qualify for the league, for example he scored 2+0 against Ilves.

The numbers are good and he has a good amount of offensive talent, but overall his game in Jr.B isn’t overly impressive at this point. I’m left with a feeling that he still has plenty to learn about the game. He has a sharp wrister with a good release and he can really rifle it from the move, there’s already a good amount of power behind it. Has a big frame for his age, but isn’t the most physical player and looses many of his puck battles against older players. Needs to improve his endurance, often gets tired and slows down towards the end of the shift. Unable to maintain full tempo for longer periods of time. Technically a good skater and is able of generating good amount of speed considering his size and age. Still clearly adapting to the level of play, needs to be more thorough with the simple things, like getting the puck out of the zone. Hockey sense is still developing, in some situations he doesn’t always know what the sensible thing to do is. Usually gets the puck under control quite quickly and is able of deking at full speed, but I wouldn’t say that he has elite hands. Able of setting up some plays, especially on the rush, but not the greatest play maker. Anyways, he’s more of a sniper. Focuses slightly more on the offensive side of the game and still struggles a bit with defensive responsibilities. Won’t be coaches first choice on short handed play. In some ways he resembles Hannes Hyvönen, a big winger who plays with his right hand down, has a good amount of offensive talent and a great shot, but isn’t perhaps the most complete player.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glassbangers

What kind of player is Juuso Riikola? He has 3 points in 3 games in SM-liiga. I've been reading some reports and apparently he has Vatanen-like skating and good puckhandling skills?

The numbers are good and he has a good amount of offensive talent, but overall his game in Jr.B isn’t overly impressive at this point. I’m left with a feeling that he still has plenty to learn about the game. He has a sharp wrister with a good release and he can really rifle it from the move, there’s already a good amount of power behind it. Has a big frame for his age, but isn’t the most physical player and looses many of his puck battles against older players. Needs to improve his endurance, often gets tired and slows down towards the end of the shift. Unable to maintain full tempo for longer periods of time. Technically a good skater and is able of generating good amount of speed considering his size and age. Still clearly adapting to the level of play, needs to be more thorough with the simple things, like getting the puck out of the zone. Hockey sense is still developing, in some situations he doesn’t always know what the sensible thing to do is. Usually gets the puck under control quite quickly and is able of deking at full speed, but I wouldn’t say that he has elite hands. Able of setting up some plays, especially on the rush, but not the greatest play maker. Anyways, he’s more of a sniper. Focuses slightly more on the offensive side of the game and still struggles a bit with defensive responsibilities. Won’t be coaches first choice on short handed play. In some ways he resembles Hannes Hyvönen, a big winger who plays with his right hand down, has a good amount of offensive talent and a great shot, but isn’t perhaps the most complete player.

Mr. Tormentor, you are the MAN. Thanks. Puljujärvi has just turned 14 and is growing on rapid pace, so I think its pretty normal that he may struggle in some parts of the game. But I would be fine if he just scores goals He could be over 190cm in 3-4 years if he is already 184cm. But we will see, pretty interesting player type for sure.

BTW Saarela has just played 2 games this season, is he injured or what? Julius Nättinen has had a great start in B, 8games 12 points.

The numbers are good and he has a good amount of offensive talent, but overall his game in Jr.B isn’t overly impressive at this point. I’m left with a feeling that he still has plenty to learn about the game. He has a sharp wrister with a good release and he can really rifle it from the move, there’s already a good amount of power behind it. Has a big frame for his age, but isn’t the most physical player and looses many of his puck battles against older players. Needs to improve his endurance, often gets tired and slows down towards the end of the shift. Unable to maintain full tempo for longer periods of time. Technically a good skater and is able of generating good amount of speed considering his size and age. Still clearly adapting to the level of play, needs to be more thorough with the simple things, like getting the puck out of the zone. Hockey sense is still developing, in some situations he doesn’t always know what the sensible thing to do is. Usually gets the puck under control quite quickly and is able of deking at full speed, but I wouldn’t say that he has elite hands. Able of setting up some plays, especially on the rush, but not the greatest play maker. Anyways, he’s more of a sniper. Focuses slightly more on the offensive side of the game and still struggles a bit with defensive responsibilities. Won’t be coaches first choice on short handed play. In some ways he resembles Hannes Hyvönen, a big winger who plays with his right hand down, has a good amount of offensive talent and a great shot, but isn’t perhaps the most complete player.

I've heard that he's more like Bobby Orr.

Awesome write-up, thanks!

Would you consider Puljujärvi to be close to the top level of talent around the world in his age group?

I was wondering is Urho Vaakanainen injured because he hasn't been playing for junior C games and noticed that the reason he hasn't been playing is that he plays already jr. B level! Has someone seen him this season?

3 games 2+4 this far. Level is jr B Mestis (second highest level) and it is still qualifying stage but still quite impressive for 13 years old dman playing players 3-4 years older than him.

I was wondering is Urho Vaakanainen injured because he hasn't been playing for junior C games and noticed that the reason he hasn't been playing is that he plays already jr. B level! Has someone seen him this season?

3 games 2+4 this far. Level is jr B Mestis (second highest level) and it is still qualifying stage but still quite impressive for 13 years old dman playing players 3-4 years older than him.

Very, very impressive. Also, he has had one game in C-juniors and scored a hat-trick. This guy is a d-man, right?
180cm already, so will probably be close to 190cm at some point.

B Mestis might be a tad lower skill-wise than C-SM, but players are most likely stronger and bigger. Excellent to see that Finland seems to produce some elite talent nowadays.

BTW Saarela returned to line-up y´day and scored 1+2. 3 games 8 points. I´m just wondering is there a real reason for him to play in B-juniors? Obviously its only 3 games but I´m positive that A-juniors would develop his game more. Saarela would score point/game already in A-juniors and he could play there next season also (probably he would play couple of games in Sm-liiga). We have to remember that for example Selänne never really played in B-juniors, he went from C to A. Great decision by coach Leo Äikäs back then.

Very, very impressive. Also, he has had one game in C-juniors and scored a hat-trick. This guy is a d-man, right?
180cm already, so will probably be close to 190cm at some point.

B Mestis might be a tad lower skill-wise than C-SM, but players are most likely stronger and bigger. Excellent to see that Finland seems to produce some elite talent nowadays.

BTW Saarela returned to line-up y´day and scored 1+2. 3 games 8 points. I´m just wondering is there a real reason for him to play in B-juniors? Obviously its only 3 games but I´m positive that A-juniors would develop his game more. Saarela would score point/game already in A-juniors and he could play there next season also (probably he would play couple of games in Sm-liiga). We have to remember that for example Selänne never really played in B-juniors, he went from C to A. Great decision by coach Leo Äikäs back then.

Yes Vaakanainen is Dman. I think that tormentor has some insight of him. I haven't seen him play yet but I am planning to go watch him this season. Seems very intresting prospect.

I would say that B-Mestis is better competition than C-SM with a margin. It is quite a step from C to B IMO. Jr B has two age groups and players are generally much bigger. Many guys drop out when moving from jr C level to B.

I have been wondering also why Saarela isn't playing at jr A. Maybe Lukko wants him to help jr B team to qualify to SM-sarja first. Saarela has already played U16 national team games with -96 age group and the best -96 guys are all playing jr A. He would do fine at jr A. Nättinen should also get some jr A games this season.

Apparently Jokerit's Olli Juolevi(-98 D-man) has been very impressive. He leads their C-jr. preliminary group in points as an underage d-man and is listed at 185/75 (14 years of age). Jokerit's -98 age group seems to have quite a lot of talent besides him as well, other notable names include Oula Kuure, Otto Somppi and Jarkko Aalto. All 4 of these kids are within Jokerit-C's scoring top-6.

Juolevi has performed pretty well all season so far, not only pointswise. Actually all these four -98 born boys have been quite impressive, again, not only pointswise. Aalto seems to be one of the coaches choice to play penalty killings and last shifts. Juolevi and Aalto are good at both ends and they seem to find each other exceptionally well on ice.

I was wondering is Urho Vaakanainen injured because he hasn't been playing for junior C games and noticed that the reason he hasn't been playing is that he plays already jr. B level! Has someone seen him this season?

I saw Vaakanainen during the pre-season, no big changes in his game. He’s pretty good in many things, like skating, puck handling, passing, shooting, reading the play, and so on. He doesn’t exactly excel in any areas of the game at this point, but seems like a good all-around prospect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinProspects

BTW Saarela returned to line-up y´day and scored 1+2. 3 games 8 points. I´m just wondering is there a real reason for him to play in B-juniors?

Saarela’s dad is an assistant coach on that Lukko Jr.B team, this could have some impact on where Aleksi plays. They might try him out in Jr.A at some point though, especially if he continues to score at this pace.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChadS

Apparently Jokerit's Olli Juolevi(-98 D-man) has been very impressive. He leads their C-jr. preliminary group in points as an underage d-man and is listed at 185/75 (14 years of age).

HPK’s Markus Niemeläinen has similar stats with Juolevi and he’s also a 98-born defenseman, only difference is that he’s even taller than Juolevi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoHockey

I saw Veeti Vainio play for the first time last week on jr C, Blues vs. Jokerit. It was really a pleasure to see his beautiful skating and playing his head up all the time. Me like!

Me likes VV a lot as well, promising defenseman and has clearly grown from last season. For me he’s top-5 among 97-born Finns.

I have seen him a few times. Big, strong and physical but skill level doesn´t seem that high. He is not scoring a whole lot, so at the moment he doesn´t look more than average player. Of course he can get better in the future, but I would say his team mate Roope Kuhakoski is a better player. He´s almost as big as Laine, but has more skill and plays a quite versatile game.